


Boredom Leads to Scratches and Snuggles

by DarkMasterofCupcakes



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Baby Catradora, Gen, Hordak mentioned, Pre-Canon, Takes place shortly after Shadow Weaver took Catra in, shadow weaver mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-15
Updated: 2019-11-15
Packaged: 2021-01-24 22:56:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21346138
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkMasterofCupcakes/pseuds/DarkMasterofCupcakes
Summary: Adora hears her new friend crying and decides to do something about it.
Relationships: Adora & Catra (She-Ra), Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 53





	Boredom Leads to Scratches and Snuggles

Adora lifted one leg straight up into the air above her body, the tips of her toes not even brushing the bottom of the bunk hovering above her, no matter how much she stretched. After a moment, she allowed her leg to fall back onto her mattress with a light thud.

She repeated the exercise with her other leg, and then again with both. There wasn’t really any reason for her to do this; she was just bored.

Shadow Weaver was gone again, talking to or doing something for Lord Hordak. 

Adora didn’t know what exactly they did when Shadow Weaver was gone, and while she had asked a few times, it hadn’t taken her too long to understand that whatever Shadow Weaver did when she went to see Lord Hordak, it wasn’t anything for Adora to worry about. And so she hadn’t – not in a long while anyway. She simply got used to the fact that Shadow Weaver would often be gone for long periods of time, leaving Adora more or less to her own devices, with some of the other soldiers – both the cadets and the officers and Force Captains – being given the implicit orders to make sure she didn’t get too badly hurt as she ran about in an attempt to entertain herself while her caregiver was busy.

Still, that didn’t mean it didn’t get lonely when Shadow Weaver left, especially when she was gone so long, and barely even spoke to Adora when they did manage to cross paths, usually right before Adora was forced into the barracks by an officer who would tuck the blankets in so tight the young girl could barely even wriggle free in time to race to the latrine when she needed to go in the middle of the night. 

Thinking about all of that made Adora lose her concentration, and her legs flopped down a little too hard this time, causing a tiny tremor to course through her mattress, and a sound almost like a drum to echo through the empty barracks.

She winced at the sound, despite knowing there wasn’t really anybody there to complain about the noise she was making. Her expression softened as she heard a small sound coming from above her head. It was tiny, and if it weren’t for the fact that it seemed like all noise was intensified in the aftermath of what had just happened, she might not have even noticed it; but she did.

“Catra?” she called up, her voice a whisper just barely louder than the little whimper or mew that she’d heard mere seconds before.

There was no response, which made the young girl frown. She knew she had heard something; she was absolutely sure of it, even if the other girl was going to try and pretend otherwise.

Getting to her feet, she stood on the mattress – it was easy, the bed was about as solid as the floor, and almost as smooth – and stretched up her arm to see if she could reach the bottom of the bunk above her head. To her great joy, she found that she could easily touch the hard metal surface, not only being able to put the tips of each of her fingers to it, but even being able to place her entire palm flat against the cool metal. Only the heel of her hand avoided contact, unless Adora got onto the tips of her toes – which was just a little more difficult to do on the bed than it was to do on the ground, and she didn’t think touching Catra’s bunk with her whole hand was worth the trouble.

Shadow Weaver would probably say it was a waste of effort (whatever that meant – Adora had only overheard her saying something like that once, when she was supposed to be asleep, and didn’t want to get in trouble by asking questions and revealing she hadn’t been doing what she was supposed to); and the last thing Adora wanted was to do anything that her guardian would consider to be a waste.

Still…she knew she had heard crying from up above her, if only for a moment, and even if it seemed to have gone away. And even if she knew that she wasn’t really supposed to bother someone when they seemed to be upset – because letting someone know you saw that they were upset would make them feel ashamed and be even more upset than they already were, figured Adora – she thought maybe it would be okay to make an exception this time, and make sure Catra was alright.

Catra was young, after all, just like she was; and even if it didn’t happen all the time, Adora did sometimes have people asking her if she was okay when she was allowed to wander about the base while Shadow Weaver did her work with Lord Hordak.

Maybe the rule about pretending you didn’t notice when someone was upset didn’t count until you were an adult. Which meant that it would be okay for her to check up on her new friend, and try to figure out what had made her start crying. 

“Catra!” Adora called out again, this time jumping up slightly to smack the bottom of the other girl’s bunk as hard as she could. She actually hit it hard enough that not only did the sound of her hand slapping against the metal echo through the barracks (which made Adora all the more thankful that the room was empty, save for herself and Catra – she did not want to deal with any soldiers and cadets who got cranky because she accidentally woke them up), but her arm actually tingled a bit from the shock of how hard she’d hit the bunk. Still, there wasn’t any response from Catra.

Now Adora was starting to get less worried about her new friend, and just starting to get mad. Even if Catra didn’t want to talk about what was bothering her – even if she didn’t want to talk at all right now – she at least should show that she’d noticed Adora was trying to talk to her; not just pretend she wasn’t even there!

“Catra!” she called up once again, puffing out her cheeks in irritation when, yet again, she didn’t get any answer. “Catra, I know you’re not sleeping. Just say something already.”

When even that didn’t get a response, a frustrated groan escaped from her mouth.

Well, if Catra was going to try and keep ignoring her, then Adora was just going to have to make it so she couldn’t be ignored.

Getting onto her hands and knees so she could move faster, the girl scrambled to the edge of her bed, hopping to her feet just as the tips of her toes hit the end of the mattress. As soon as she was on her feet, she whipped herself around and leapt up, unable to keep herself from letting out a squeak of surprise (it wasn’t because she was scared – she never got scared, not because of a silly thing like this) as her arms briefly flailed about until she was able to grab onto the edge of Catra’s bunk.

“Can you help me up?” she asked the curled up ball laying on the mattress as she barely managed to pull herself up enough to that her chin rested on the mat. She had no idea how Catra was able to get up here every night; she was struggling not to fall off, and Shadow Weaver always talked about how strong she was, in a way that made Adora feel really good inside.

A twitch of an ear showed that Catra had heard her, even if she still refused to look her way. However, despite not looking at Adora, the other girl did seem willing to help her up, nudging over a blanket that she was laying on top of.

Adora grasped the corner of the blanket and used it to help herself scramble over the edge and onto the mat – which was just as hard as her own mattress was, to her slight surprise.

“…You okay?” she questioned, crawling over to where Catra was laying, still curled up into a little ball near her pillow. Adora didn’t want to bring up the crying; she wanted to try and make Catra feel better, not make her feel bad because someone had noticed she’d been crying.

Catra just shrugged and let out a little noise that vaguely sounded like an extremely smushed together “I don’t know”. Which was more than Adora was expecting, considering her earlier attempts, so she considered that response good enough for now.

Still, she wanted to make her new friend feel better; she just had to figure out the best way to do that. As she raked her brain, trying to think of a solution, she noticed something out of the corner of her eye: one of Catra’s ears twitching.

‘Maybe she’s itchy?’ Adora wondered to herself.

Without really thinking, she reached out and began to gently scratch the young cat-girl’s ears. At first, Catra stiffened a little at the touch, but it didn’t take long until she wasn’t only accepting the scratches, but actually tilting her head so she could almost lean into Adora’s touch. She even began to make a funny noise, like something between a rattle and a buzz; and it didn’t take long before Adora started giggling, which seemed to be infectious, because Catra also began to laugh a little between the noises she was making.

Soon enough, both girls were laughing, and they only managed to stop when they heard steps outside the barracks (neither wanted to get in trouble for making noise while the cadets and all the older soldiers were training) by clapping a hand over each other’s mouth.

They waited until they could no longer hear the sounds of footsteps outside the door before finally putting down their hands. Adora had to keep herself from giggling again; Catra’s hand was fuzzy, and it tickled a little as she moved.

“Thanks,” Catra said, actually speaking in more than just a mumble for the first time since…

Actually, now that she thought about it, Adora realized that this was the first time she’d really heard Catra speak since Shadow Weaver had taken her in as well. It was a little strange, since she’d talked a lot when she and Adora had played hide and seek and tag with the other kids at the orphanage, but it seemed like once they left, Catra just stopped talking unless one of the adults spoke directly to her.

“Thanks?” Adora asked, tilting her head to the side in confusion. “For what?”

“The scratches,” Catra explained, her ear twitching slightly when she spoke, as though trying to serve as a reminder. She looked away from Adora’s face, instead focusing on her blanket, which she briefly clutched in her hand before deciding to just throw it over her head.

For some reason, she held the cloth up to her face and gave it a little sniff. Even more confusing to Adora was the fact that she could have sworn the other girl looked…sad afterwards, like she was disappointed by the scent.

“I kinda miss them,” Catra said, but she seemed to be thinking out loud, rather than saying it directly to Adora.

Adora made a confused sound and narrowed her eyes.

“You miss the scratches? Do you want some more?”

“No!”

Adora paused, blinking in surprise with her hand hovering in the air mere inches away from the blanket that now covered Catra’s ears. She was going to give her more scratches so she’d be happy, but apparently that wasn’t a good idea, if the cat-girl’s outcry was anything to go by.

“I…I mean, yeah, I do miss the scratches, too, kinda,” Catra quickly said, eyes darting about nervously while her cheeks flamed with color; apparently she’d even surprised herself with the earlier outburst. “I meant…I miss all the other kids, back at the orphanage. It feels weird sleeping by myself – I always used to share my bed with someone.”

As she spoke, she grabbed the blanket and pulled it even more tightly around herself, her tail flicking out from behind her to wrap around her legs.

Adora thought it was a little weird that Catra was apparently so upset that she didn’t have to share a bed anymore. Then again, Adora never had to share a bed – she’d always shared a room with lots of people, ever since she could remember, but she’d always had her own bed – so maybe it wasn’t really that weird. And even if it was, that didn’t change the fact that it obviously made Catra sad, and Adora wanted her new friend to be happy.

“Maybe you can sleep in my bed sometimes,” she offered, crawling over so she was practically pressed up against the other girl’s side. Now it was Catra’s turn to look surprised, her eyes going wide as she turned to look at Adora with a curious expression.

“Really?” she asked, her the corners of her mouth turning up in small, but hopeful, smile. Adora smiled back and nodded enthusiastically.

“Yeah, there’s tons of room.” she said, crawling back over to the edge of the bunk. “C’mon – let’s try it out.”

She looked down at the ground and frowned; she’d never realized just how high up these top bunks were. As Adora began to carefully lower herself down to the bed beneath her, Catra simply hopped off the bed, landing on her hands and feet with an almost inaudible thump.

“Wow…” Adora gasped, unable to keep herself from marveling at what her new friend had just done. She was so focused on Catra that she allowed her grip to loosen, and found her fingers slipping from the metal before she had the time to remember to grab on tight.

Closing her eyes, she braced herself to fall on the hard ground below…only to find herself landing on a cushion instead. The impact still hurt, but definitely not as much as she was expecting it to.

“You okay?” She heard Catra’s voice coming from beside her, and she turned to face her with a smile as she nodded.

“Yeah,” she said, pushing herself off the pillow in order to stand. “Thanks for saving my butt.”

Catra just made a noncommittal noise and shrugged as she said, “No big deal”, before leaping onto Adora’s bunk. She turned around in place for a second, before looking at the other girl with an expectant expression; as though asking what she was waiting for.

Adora didn’t say anything in return; just grabbed the pillow and hopped in beside her friend. They started off trying to just snuggle up next to each other…but that didn’t work out as well as they’d hoped.

“Your hair keeps tickling me,” Adora said – or, more accurately, tried to say – through her giggles.

Despite her laughter, she wasn’t lying; no matter how Catra tried to lie down (and she kept flopping around from her stomach to either side to her back and right onto her stomach again), Adora found her face being brushed by the thick mane of hair on the cat-girl’s head…and the sensation made it hard for her to keep from laughing. Which wasn’t a good thing, if they were supposed to try and sleep like this – she couldn’t sleep if she kept getting tickled and laughing!

“I think we gotta try something else,” Adora said, mostly to herself, though she was going to ask Catra if she had any ideas…when the other girl suddenly sat up and scooted down slightly, stopping when she was right next to Adora’s stomach.

Adora was about to ask her what she was doing, but before she could even open her mouth, Catra turned around in a circle before curling up against Adora’s side, and laying her head down on her stomach, using it like a pillow.

“…That feels really nice.” And it really did – maybe it was because of how fuzzy she was, but Catra felt really soft and warm as she snuggled up against Adora. Catra apparently felt the same way, as Adora realized that the sounds she was making weren’t her snoring, but the same noises she’d made back on her bunk, when Adora had given her the scratches.

Before, Adora had laughed at the sound; now, she just smiled as she reached down as far as she could while still lying on her back, trying to grab one of Catra’s hands. She couldn’t quite reach, until Catra took Adora’s hand in hers.

“Do you…do you think we could do this again?” Catra questioned, lifting her head up to look at her friend with eyes that showed both apprehension and hope, her ears pressed against her head as she waited for an answer.

“Uh-huh,” Adora confirmed, giving Catra’s hand a gentle squeeze. “We can do it every night, if you want.”

Catra didn’t say anything, but Adora was pretty sure she liked the idea, if the smile on her face as she closed her eyes again was any indication.

Adora smiled as well as she closed her eyes, her hand still holding onto Catra’s as she fell asleep with her friend snuggled up against her.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally part of a gift exchange I did a while back. I really wanted to do something fluffy with Catra and Adora as little kids, and I thought the origins of them sharing a bed would be cute.


End file.
